The status quo needs to be status GO

Take a look at Albany. Is it any better off than it was four years ago? Eight years ago? Twelve? Of course it isn’t. Only a fool would believe that it really is. We have 10.4 percent unemployment, and that’s actually down from the previous month. We have little prospect for new industry coming to town. The big news hasn’t been a new factory, but a new Olive Garden for Pete’s sake!

However, we see the established powers that be in Albany choosing to endorse a candidate. Over the past week, John Howard, Roger Marietta, Freddie Powell-Sims, and Carol Fullerton have all come out in support of Dorothy Hubbard.

Anyone who votes for Hubbard based on that is probably brain dead.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to support a candidate. It’s not. I’m also not saying that everyone who supports Hubbard is brain dead, because that’s not true either. There are a lot of reasons to support any candidate, and it’s up to each individual to determine who they choose to support and why.

However, Hubbard’s endorsements come from the very people who have had the opportunity to lead this community through the darkness and have failed. They have sat on the city commission or in the General Assembly and we, their constituents, have nothing to show for it.

In reality, these folks support Hubbard not for her policies, but the fact that they don’t think she’ll upset the apple cart. They like the status quo. Unfortunately, the status quo has got to go.

Not only that, but I have to question the wisdom of these people actually giving these endorsements. After all, there’s no guarantee that Hubbard will win the election, and they all will have to work with whoever wins.

During election night, I was speaking with a member of the General Assembly at an election party for a mayoral candidate. They confided that they were going to a different election party later in the evening for another mayoral candidate. “I’ve got to work with whoever wins,” they said. I agreed with him then, and I do now as well.

Each of these endorsements comes from someone who will have to work with Mayor Fletcher should she win. Now, they’ve already made it clear that they don’t want her in that chair, and that can make things difficult in many ways. Not that Fletcher would hold a grudge necessarily, but it will definitely make favors harder to come by.

Mayor Willie Adams made his endorsement as well, and I see no problem with that. He’s out the door. He doesn’t have to work with the new mayor in any way other than as a constituent. There’s no reason for him not make an endorsement. The same is true of former city commissioner Morris Gurr.

However, I find it telling that those who were in positions to do a great many things for the betterment of Albany and didn’t do any of them have opted to endorse Dorothy Hubbard. It seems to me that they know exactly what she will do to improve Albany, and that’s not much different than she’s already done.